Hauntings
by IceAngel1119
Summary: Dr. Weir used to have strange dreams when she was younger, then they stopped. What happens when she starts dreaming again? SheppardWeir I don't really know where I'm going but it won't be fluff.
1. The Dream

With a start she jerked awake and jumped from her bed, the room instantly responding to the movement and turning the lights on to the lowest setting. Looking around frantically to see if…if what? For some reason she couldn't remember what had caused her to wake up, but the thin sheen of sweat on her skin and the increased beating of her heart were sure signs of something.

Taking one more look around Doctor Elizabeth Weir sat back down on the bed letting her head drop into her hands. She hadn't had dreams like this since she was around thirteen, when her brother had been killed, when it became stupid to be afraid of something that wasn't real. It had seemed that simply denying that they were there had gotten rid of them, but now they were back. These dreams that seemed so real and seemed to come true, dreams that had reduced a strong child to tears when almost nothing else could, had been haunting her again for the past four nights. Brian had been the only one she'd ever told about the dreams, right before he died.

Firmly pushing all thoughts of her late brother from her mind, Elizabeth ran her hands through her hair and looked around her room one more time. Everything was as she left it; papers thrown all over her small desk, her clothes from yesterday still on the floor because she was too tired to put them away, and her book, Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky was still open on the nightstand. Yet something was out of place, as if there was someone lurking on the very edge of her vision, but no matter how fast she turned her head it was only a shadow.

Briefly entertaining the thought of going back to bed and getting some more sleep she decided against it. Standing up and making her way to the bathroom for a quick shower, Elizabeth noticed that her hands were shaking. Quickly clenching them into fists and ceasing the slight movement, before removing her clothing and stepping under the hot spray.

After washing away the remnants of the dream she donned a pair of black pants, a long-sleeve red top, and a pair of boots before heading for the door. From the doorway Elizabeth glanced around her room again, anxiety rising with the unseen eyes, and noticed that it was only 0430, the night shift would be the only ones up. Resolutely turning and striding out into the corridor she didn't see the papers on her desk be rustled by a non-existent breeze.


	2. The Past

Chapter 2

Elizabeth walked through the halls of the seemingly deserted city, refusing to be urged on by her watchers. Letting her mind wonder once again to her dysfunctional family and how they had shaped her into the person she was now, as her feet carried her to an unknown destination.

Robert Weir had been a very proud man, an Admiral in the Navy, someone who ran his family like he did his ship. Before she was born it had been Robert, his wife Christine, and their three sons; Brian, Troy, and Kyle all living on a ranch out in the Montana wilderness. Since Robert had retired he'd spent his time training his sons in the ways of the military; discipline, tactics, shooting, hand-to-hand combat and everything else they taught in boot camp, all the while telling his wife that it would help them with life in general. But, after suddenly finding himself with a daughter he didn't know how to treat her, except like one of the guys. As a result when someone picked on her in school instead of crying she would break their nose, much to her mother's dismay. All of her brothers wanted to be Navy Seals so naturally little Lizzie did as well, until Brian and Troy left to join up. Brian was nineteen when he left, having waited for Troy who was a year behind, leaving Kyle, 15 and Lizzie, 12 at home with their parents. It was a morning in late August, a year after they left, when Elizabeth woke up in the middle of the night screaming incoherently. It had been when she was sobbing into her mother's nightgown that she'd revealed that Brian was dead. Of course Robert and Christine had dismissed it as a bad dream, until an officer came to the door three days later saying that Brian had died on a classified mission at an undisclosed area. Everyone had avoided her for the next few weeks and then a year later Troy had come home. Elizabeth had grown to hate the military for taking her brother and organized severally anti-military groups in graduate and undergraduate school. All eventually moving her to a career as a successful diplomat and putting her in charge of the Atlantis expedition.

Realizing where her feet had subconsciously taken her, she took a deep breath of fresh air as she leaned against the railing of the balcony. She hadn't spoken to her family for ten years prior to leaving for Pegasus, now three years later she wondered how they were doing. Even without speaking she'd managed to hear things about her older brothers. How Troy was a promising young CIA agent and Kyle hunting for archeological treasures in the Bering Strait. Both fields had the potential of being tied to the Stargate program, she let out a quiet laugh at the thought of her brothers finding her name at the top of a mainly military expedition going to another galaxy, no less. Her parents on the other hand were an entirely different matter; both of them were out of the spotlight so it left Elizabeth in the dark. Both had been healthy the last time she saw them, if not still slightly depressed about all their children leaving home.

Hearing a footstep behind her, Elizabeth resisted the instinct to grab them and throw whoever it was over the railing.

"Dr. Weir?" a male voice asked questioningly, she recognized it as Sgt. Williams, a tech that worked in the control room.

Blinking away her reverie she notices that the sun had risen and it was raining softly, but she'd been out there long enough for her clothes to be slightly damp. Straightening herself up and ignoring the protest from her left knee, an old college injury, she turned to face the man.

"Yes?" probably not the most intelligent thing to say, but it would have to do.

"It's raining and we thought that maybe you should come inside?"

He stated it very timidly, but the implication was there that she might not be entirely aware of her surroundings. Regardless of the truth in that thought Elizabeth merely cocked an eyebrow before striding inside through the doors, followed by the sergeant. Trying her best not to let the stiffness in her knee show by limping, Elizabeth made a beeline straight to her office and promptly sat down at her desk.

Looking at the clock she noticed that she had a briefing with Major Sheppard's team in less than ten minutes. Thinking about her wet clothes she tried to think of a way to make it to her quarters and change, but still be on time. At that moment her knee gave a particularly painful sharp twinge of protest making the decision for her. Standing up and grabbing the necessary reports she made her way to the briefing room, effectively putting the dream and the mysterious watchers out of her mind.


	3. The Briefing

A/N: I forgot to put a disclaimer in the first chapter so I'm going to add here that I don't own anything other than the plot and anything that came from my crazy brain. Also I'm going to say that there could be spoilers in here for all of season one so beware, you never know what's going to slip out. This is a Sheppard/Weir story.

Chapter 3

Elizabeth had made it to the briefing room just before Major John Sheppard and the rest of his team entered.

Rodney McKay, the astrophysicist on the team, had been pushing for this mission ever since Captain Hunter's team had returned from the planet a week ago. Apparently there were some ruins in the middle of a forest close to the Stargate; that appeared to have some writing that resembled Ancient on the surface. Normally Rodney would rather go play with a new piece of technology they'd discovered, but with the threat of attack hanging over their heads, ZPMs were needed.

Typically, Elizabeth didn't have a problem with sending Sheppard's team after a lead on a ZPM. This time was different though, everyone that was with Hunter had reported a distinct sense of unease on the planet, as if someone was watching them the whole time. The information wouldn't have been nearly as unnerving if the planet had appeared inhabited, and she hadn't had her own recent experience with the phenomenon. And after ignoring Rodney's pleas for the past week, she'd finally given him this briefing to convince her that there was something worth risking her flagship team for.

Rodney was looking at her, as if waiting for some sign to begin his presentation. She gave a small nod before surveying the rest of the team. Lieutenant Aiden Ford was sitting to her right, his eyes already glazed over as McKay began to talk. Elizabeth had gotten the impression that the young marine didn't care one way or the other if they went to the planet as long as he was back in time to catch the weekly showing of a football game. They'd found out about a month after arriving on Atlantis that the major wasn't the only one who had brought a treasured football game to the Pegasus galaxy, now they were shown in rotation every Sunday night at 2000 hours.

Sitting next to Ford was Teyla Emmagan, the resident Athosian leader, gave the appearance that she was paying close attention to the scientist. Somehow Teyla always appeared to be paying rapt attention to whoever was speaking, no matter how boring. Elizabeth envied this ability greatly when it came to the briefings with two or more of the scientists, because once they began to play off each other anyone else was doomed.

Next she turned her attention to her immediate left, where Major John Sheppard was sitting not even pretending to pay attention. Instead he'd managed to find a pen and paper and was drawing rather enthusiastically. Frowning at him and briefly considering the maturity of her senior military officer, she turned her attention back to the presentation that she had requested.

McKay had moved onto talking about how high the energy readings on the planet were compared to the readings they'd taken on the planets where the other ZPMs had been found. The calculations and formulas that Rodney was spouting off sounded like absolute gibberish to her, someone who can speak five languages in her sleep. Blinking, she looked around at the team again to see if they understood it any better. Ford had lent back in his chair and tipped his hat over his eyes, clearly sleeping. Teyla still looked as if she was paying attention, but upon closer inspection had a glazed look to her eyes.

A loud rip from the left drew her gaze. Major Sheppard was attempting to fold part of the paper into the shape of an airplane. Glancing quickly to make sure that McKay's attention was diverted; Elizabeth reached over and snatched the plane from John's hands, earning a glare from the man in question.

"Elizabeth?" looking up to see McKay's look, somewhere between hurt and confusion. Not quite understanding until she looked and saw that the paper airplane she happened to be holding, was high in the air and poised in the perfect throwing position.

"Um…right, continue with the presentation. I'm listening," Elizabeth quickly pulled the plane out of site from the rest of the team, throwing a quick glare at Sheppard, which he returned with a smirk.

She turned back to the man in front of her once again, as she crumpled up the airplane under the table, determined to give him her full attention. However, when he started to go off onto the reports given to him by the resident geologist about how the type of rock in the ruins was similar to other structures they'd found, she drifted off again. This time her mind was drawn back to the events of the morning.

Without warning the unseen eyes closed in on her sucking all of the air from the room. Elizabeth closed her eyes briefly fighting back the urge to run out the door, willing the watchers to go back into the shadows. It only partially worked, they were still there hanging in the recesses of her mind, but it wasn't overbearing.

Opening her eyes again to see if anyone had noticed her moment of panic and it seemed that everyone was doing as they had been before. Momentarily checking on Rodney's report she went back to thinking about the night before, this time about the dream.

Brian had tried to get her to remember her dreams when she was younger, saying that it may help her get them under control. Leaning forward in her chair, to look as if she was simply shifting positions, she ran her hands through her hair and focused on the dream. Slowly it came back to her in flashes.

Fire, running through the trees, screams, eyes, black eyes…

Elizabeth shifted again looking up at Rodney, no longer hearing what he was saying, and she blinked.

Fire…pain lacing through her body…people dancing around a fire…bodies hanging in the air…

Opening her eyes she couldn't hear McKay, couldn't get any air to her lungs.

Running through the forest…fire…pain…screams…fire…black eyes…grey all around…fire…

"Elizabeth?" opening her eyes she put a face to the voice, John Sheppard was looking at her with concern. From the looks of it Rodney had finished his speech and he was looking at her, everyone was.

"What? I'm fine," shaking the after effects of the dream off she looked into John's eyes and still saw concern, "really."

"Okay," he still looked concerned, but didn't say anything about it.

"So can we go?" returning her gaze to the scientist she lowered her eyes.

"Are you sure there is a ZPM there?"

"As sure as I can be from what I have here."

"Alright, you have a go."

Rodney looked as if Christmas had come early, giving her a quick thank you before running off to gather his equipment. Ford and Teyla followed him, presumably on their way to get suited up. John stuck around a moment longer watching her as if she was some specimen under a microscope.

"What!" already on edge she snapped at him, not something that Dr. Elizabeth Weir would do. She didn't lash out at people; she was always in control and supposed to be the one that calmed other people down.

"Sorry," the major held his hands up slightly in defense, "I just wanted to make sure that you're alright, you looked pretty shaken up."

"I'm sorry, too," sighing softly and scrubbing a hand down her face tiredly, "I just…I don't know. I haven't been sleeping well lately and I kind of just…zoned out."

"Alright, but if you need to talk to somebody you know you can come to me, right?" John looked so cute with his hair ruffled and the pure concern in his expression…wait when did I start to think he was cute? Elizabeth sighed trying to hide a little smile.

"I know John, really I do. You had better go get geared up or McKay might just make them leave without you," John gave her a smile before turning to leave, "John? Thank you."

He gave her a full blown grin and exited the briefing room.

"Oh my God," she groaned finally letting her head bang down on the table. She had never had a dream that intense before and had never been able to recall it as vividly as she did in the briefing.

Sometimes she wished that her brothers were here to help her figure it out, in one way or another. Troy would probably tell her that she was too stressed and it was all a figment of her imagination, he had always been the practical one. Kyle would say that she needed to go out and have some fun, get a beer, go out on a date, anything that would take her mind off work. He'd try to get her to open up and tell him what was bothering her, while not really believing a word of it. Brian on the other hand would tell her to start from the beginning and tell him everything, then help her analyze it.

After spending a couple of minutes in blissful solitude she headed out to the control center to watch Major Sheppard's team depart.

When she got there John was standing over Williams' shoulder watching him put in the coordinates for the planet, McKay and the rest were already down by the Stargate. John turned and gave her a smile as she walked up next to him, returning the gesture.

"You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but thanks."

John smiled one more time before moving toward the stairs to join his team, gently resting his hand on her arm as he passed her. Suddenly she reached out and grabbed his arm, startling both of them.

"If you see a tall man with long grey hair and black eyes, run, run as fast as you can,"

Elizabeth was shaking but her grip was firm.

"Elizabeth, what?"

"Just promise me John," she let go of him as McKay called for Sheppard to hurry up, "just run."

John gave her an odd look before nodding and making his way down the stairs to join his team. He looked back up at Elizabeth before stepping through the Stargate after the others.

"Just run," Elizabeth murmured wrapping her arms around herself against the sudden chill, the watchers were back.


	4. Through the Stargate

Chapter 4

Coming through the other side of the event horizon John Sheppard surveyed the terrain. It appeared that the Stargate was located in a fairly large valley and surrounded by a dense forest. Teyla and Ford were already fanning out, establishing a perimeter, while McKay immediately began taking readings.

John's brow furrowed for a moment in thought, he couldn't quite say what it was, but something about this place was off. He remembered reading about the men feeling something like it in the reports, but hadn't thought it would be this overpowering. It felt like being placed in the sights of a sniper that was about to fire on him.

_If you see a tall man with long grey hair and black eyes, run, run as fast as you can._

Elizabeth's words echoed in his mind, a warning. His thoughts turned to the enigmatic Dr. Weir, for as every time he thought that he had her figured out she did a complete one-eighty. The way that she had been acting lately had confused him more than anything else.

Elizabeth had always struck him as an unmovable force, impenetrable behind high walls and emotionally cut off from the rest of the human race. But the last few days had been different; she'd been going around the city like a cat on a hot tin roof.

It was only yesterday that John had spotted her on the balcony, lost deep in thought, which wasn't anything new. But she hadn't noticed his approach; usually she knew he was there before he knew she was. Only she hadn't noticed, and when he'd leant forward and whispered quietly in her ear, only his quick reflexes had saved him from a black eye.

Then taking into consideration how she was acting in the briefing this morning, nothing seemed to make sense. John had been entirely amused when McKay had caught her with the paper airplane, but had quickly gone back to drawing. When he'd looked back at Weir she had had her head in her hands and was entirely too still for his liking. Paying more attention to her then anything else, he watched as she looked up with a far off look in her eyes and started shaking. John had hardly noticed McKay ending the briefing and sat forward to call Weir's name. After snapping out of whatever trance she'd been in and giving the mission a go, had been when she issued the warning.

"This way," looking to his left John spotted McKay high up on the ridge pointing off to the west. Firmly pushing Dr. Weir and her warning out of his mind he followed his team up the ridge and into the forest in search of the ruins.

"So what do you think that was?" John looked next to him slightly surprised, having not noticed the young Lieutenant walk up beside him.

"Think what was?" the major had been lost in his own thoughts for most of the walk to the ruins, which spanned nearly six miles. He could hear McKay a couple of feet in front of him muttering 'only one more to go' under his breath.

"Dr. Weir, she looked pretty shaken up," Ford was scanning the tree line; he could probably feel the tension just like the rest of them.

John watched him for a second trying to decide how much to tell him. Weir had told John that she was fine, but he didn't believe it, and had been mulling over what little information he had for the past two hours. She had an incredible intuition that had only grown in their time here. At the risk of sounding like his sister, John truly believed that Weir may be some sort of psychic, and she either didn't know or didn't want anyone else to know.

"She said she was fine," a textbook answer and he knew it, but he wasn't about to tell anyone anything about the doctor.

Aiden gave him a look that told him to expand on the sentence, but after a few minutes of silence gave up.

"So what do you think about the Merry-Go-Round?" John had to smile at that one, the Merry-Go-Round was what people called the Atlantis dating circuit. In a close knit community it was hard to keep secret about who was dating who. At first both Dr. Weir and himself had held up the no fraternization rule among the expedition team, but when it became clear that they wouldn't be going home soon the rule had been dropped. As a result it had become a main topic of gossip, because people were changing partners every few weeks, usually on good terms, or had funny date stories.

One of the most amusing stories was when Dr. Carson Beckett had asked one of the French scientists to join him for a walk on the south pier, late one night. Then sometime around one in the morning a medical emergency had been called, Weir and Sheppard had come running to the infirmary to find the doctor with a small squid stuck on his date's face. It had taken two whole weeks after they got it off, for her face to change from purple to its normal color.

"What do you mean? Is there something that I don't know?" John tore his eyes from the trees to catch the lieutenants' amused grin, "Is there something about me?"

Ford smiled as the major finally asked the right question. A groan issued from the ranking officer, and just like most small communities a lot of the talk wasn't true. One minute John was sleeping with the majority of the women on base, then he'd gotten an Athosian pregnant or he and Teyla had been secretly married. He shuddered at that thought, he tended to group Teyla with his sister in his mind and the thought of them getting married freaked him out.

"Yep, and it's pretty…well, you might not want to hear it," Ford's mood went from excited to somber in less then a second, causing John's suspicion to rise.

"What is it?" Sheppard practically growled at the man, he hated it when they spread lies about him.

"Well…if you insist," Aiden was grinning again, clearly enjoying being able to tell his commanding officer something that John didn't know, "okay, so according to the gossip pool you were seen making out with Teyla in the back of a puddlejumper two days ago."

"That's just stupid. Everyone knows that Teyla was on the mainland and I was training some of the scientists in self-defense."

"Right, which is why that rumor was squashed fairly quickly and replaced with something else," Ford paused as if reconsidering telling the news, but at John's glare he continued, "now the whole city believes that you were up doing certain…nocturnal activities…in the lounge last night, with…Dr. Weir."

Everything seemed to freeze for a moment, even the hidden entities seemed to pause.

"WHAT?"

McKay and Teyla both turned to see, one Major John Sheppard standing in the middle of the path with a look of fury on his face mixed with a little disbelief. Ford blinked at the man, slightly taken back by the outburst, but he rapidly recovered.

"Don't worry I told them all that you two wanted to keep it secret, which is a sure way to eliminate the rumor," even as the major looked ready to kill him Ford couldn't keep the grin from his face.

"Major Sheppard, you know how the people of Atlantis are, if you ignore the rumor they will move onto a new one in a couple of days," Teyla had come up to them and placed a calming hand on John's shoulder, "I know that you care about Dr. Weir so just ignore it and the rumor won't get blown out of proportion."

It was a measure of John's absentmindedness that he didn't denying he cared for her, but simply looked at the woman and nodded.

"Okay let's keep moving, the ruins can't be that far away," John cleared his throat and walked on in their previous direction.

There was a rumor about him and Dr. Weir? He was used to having things said about him, but never paired with her. For some reason it bothered him more than any of the others, even the ones about Teyla. It probably had to do with the fact that he didn't want her reputation spoiled, because she was the team leader and he respected her. That had to be it. John once again pushed the woman from his thoughts as he spotted some odd shaped rocks in front of him and the trees had gotten less dense, they'd finally come upon the ruins.

Carefully stepping into the small clearing he did a quick scan, looking for anything that someone could hide behind. The watchers were there, but for some reason the farther into the ruins he went, the farther away they got.

Sheppard heard the footfalls of McKay and Ford behind him, naturally assuming that Teyla was there as well, he could never hear her approaching. Her and Weir, he swore that the women could sneak up and scare a ghost without anyone noticing.

"The readings are coming from over there," McKay pointed over to a half collapsed building near the edge of the woods, and the scientist proceeded to make his way there.

Looking around John saw that Teyla had joined McKay and they were both walking around the structure, looking for an entrance. Ford was poking around what looked like a fountain that had pinkish colored vines coming out of it. John was about to make a comment about poison ivy when something else caught his attention.

A young woman, maybe 25 years old with long brown hair, was standing on the edge of the woods behind Ford. She was tall for a woman, almost as tall as him, and there was something about her…something that didn't sit right with him. She was calmly studying the newcomers with a cool clear blue gaze, as if trying to decide to kill a bug with her show. The clothes that she wore reminded him of an elegant dress made for a royal court. A deep brown color that clung to her hips set off the dark tone of the mysterious woman's skin. As if sensing his gaze her eyes locked with John's and a clean feeling of fear laced through him, this woman was dangerous.

"Who are you to desecrate this place?" the woman's tone was sharp with a clipped accent, but it got the attention of the rest of his team.

"We're explorers, simply looking for new things to study," McKay started into the normal speech, but somehow John thought it was lost on the woman.

As if by magic another person came out of the woods, with a determined stride. The man seemed to be all hard edges and corners, but the long grey hair swung in the light breeze and his black eyes held John glued to the ground.

_If you see a tall man with long grey hair and black eyes, run, run as fast as you can._

Panic laced through John's body like a raging flood, Elizabeth's warning ringing in his ears. The man seemed to radiate with power, a force that could not be stopped. Without sparing much time for thought John turned slightly to his team while readying his P90.

"RUN! RUN NOW! GO FOR THE GATE!" John opened fire on the man and barely noticed Teyla grab the stunned scientist and instantly follow the order. Ford on the other hand opened fire on the man.

The aim of both men was true, but it didn't seem to help as the man stopped and the bullets whipped right through him, leaving only a grey mist in their wake. Those black eyes stared expressionlessly at John, who was about to tell Ford to run once again when the wind was knocked out of him.

Looking around John saw that somehow he'd been thrown through the air and slammed into one of the walls behind him. Glancing around for his teammate, John saw that Ford was lying in a heap ten feet from the place he had last been.

Pulling himself to his feet, and doing his best to ignore the pain in his shoulder, John charged at those void black eyes. A twisted grin came across the man's face before he lifted a hand and John flew back once again, feeling the wall crumble around him.

As he watched the two beings move toward him he could only hope that the rest of his team got away.

_Just run_, Elizabeth's words echoed once again in his mind.

_It's too late…I'm sorry,_ that last thought was all he had time for before darkness engulfed him.

A scream ripped through Elizabeth Weir's throat, and was quickly stifled. She leaped out of her bed landing awkwardly on her left leg; her knee buckled throwing the distraught doctor to the ground. Quickly pulling herself up and using the wall for support, she lunged for the door.

Elizabeth stumbled into the hallway, almost dropping to the floor again. Clad in pajama pants and a tank top she made her way, barefooted to the end of the hallway, where John Sheppard's quarters were located.

She made a frantic leap from one wall to the other side where his door was, trying to keep the weight off her left leg, it slid open in her presence. Immediately dropping to the floor, ignoring the pain, the images from her dream came rushing back.

The team arriving on the planet and finding the ruins, then the man appeared with them, the man with black eyes. Teyla and McKay weren't there, but John and Ford had been injured and captured. John's words still hung in the air.

_It's too late…I'm sorry._

Somehow she had known that John had actually spoken those words and that they were meant for her. They had been captured, and she knew that if she didn't do something they were going to die.

"Unauthorized off world activation!" the voice came over the communications system, but she couldn't tell who it was.

Elizabeth could feel the pressure of the air around her, closing off the entrance to her lungs. Eyes watched her from every direction and as the voice on the system called her name the darkness claimed her.


	5. After the Incident

A/N – Sorry this took so long. I had a paper due for school and then I didn't have internet access. And this other idea was bugging me so badly that I had to write a chapter of that story, before my brain would allow me to continue this.

I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 5

Voices slid across the void, contradicting the images that flashed in her mind. Blackness surrounded her, not just the blackness of night but the kind that lived. The kind of darkness that took on a life of its own, and engulfed all of those who were lost in it.

Except that wasn't the only thing, there was a presence somewhere out there, a presence that was somehow familiar to her. She took a step forward and the blackness blurred, throwing her into the middle of an encampment.

A large fire burned in the center, surrounded by dancing people. They were dressed in bikini style leather clothes and wearing masks that covered their entire faces. Their bodies were painted all in white, contrasting sharply with the blood red of their headwear. The people danced around her as if she didn't even exist, singing along with the drums that banged in the distance.

Behind the dancers stood a ring of people, which appeared to be of a different social class in the least. They all wore long clothes, dresses or robes, of differing shades of brown. One woman with long brown hair and sharp blue eyes seemed to draw her gaze. The woman scanned the crowd, seeming to pause on the area that she was standing before looking around and nodding to someone in the distance. Turning her head to look in the same direction as the woman, the blood froze in her veins.

A tall man with long grey hair and black eyes was making his way through the camp, directly towards the blue eyed woman. As he continued on his path he passed what seemed to be two large X's on the edge of the firelight. Moving closer to the structures she saw exactly why they were there.

Strung up on the X's were two men, arms and legs spread apart and tied to the posts. A large bruise was forming on the face of one of the men, it covered the majority of his face and the swelling had forced one of his eyes closed. Looking over at the lighter skinned man she noticed that he had dried blood down the right side of his face.

She stepped closer to that man, he was the most familiar, as if there was something drawing her to him, this was the presence in the darkness. This man had drawn her to him, something tells her that all of this has happened before, that she knows this dark haired handsome man.

Stepping close enough to see the stubble on his chin she couldn't resist reaching out and cupping his face in her hand. The man moved his face closer to her hand as if trying to wake up. Encouraged by the movement she stepped in and ran her other hand through his messy hair while rubbing her thumb along his cheek. Shaking his head again, he fought his way to consciousness, opening his eyes to look around blurrily until they locked with her own bright green eyes.

The man's eyes widened at the sight of her, confirming her idea that she knew him.

"Elizabeth?"

The disbelief was evident in his voice, as if she was the last person he expected to see. Then it all came rushing back in a roar of jumbled sounds. She was Elizabeth Weir, daughter of Robert and Christine Weir, an accomplished diplomat and leader of the Atlantis expedition. The man in front of her was John Sheppard, the same John Sheppard that she had seen captured by the man with black eyes.

"John," she stared into his eyes, really allowing herself to see this man for the first time in her life. He was scared and confused, not for himself, but for her. Because she was in this place where John was being held against his will, and how she had gotten here.

"How did you?"

"I don't know. All I know is that I'm going to get you out of here," John was obviously still confused, but he let a moment of hope flash in those deep green depths.

Suddenly the air seemed to solidify, eyes closed in on her and frost came off of her breath. John's eyes shot up over her head and instantly hardened. Turning to look behind her, even knowing what she would see.

The man with obsidian eyes was staring right at her, not through her like the others, but he could really see her.

"You do not belong here!"

The voice seemed to come from everywhere, echoing off the air and in her mind. A tearing feeling gripped her; it felt like she was being ripped in every direction. Not able to hold it in anymore she let loose a pain filled scream that tore at her throat. Dropping to her knees loosing awareness of everything around her except John, he was still there, her rock. His presence, something she hadn't really noticed before was strong, keeping her locked in consciousness, but it didn't keep her here.

"Elizabeth!"

John's voice followed his through the haze, as the other voices, which she'd just noticed grew closer.

Elizabeth's eyes tore open, assaulted with the harsh lighting of the infirmary. Quickly closing her mouth, cutting off the screams and ceasing the thrashing, she looked around and noticed Carson Beckett and several nurses rushing from the other room to her side.

"Dr. Weir? Are you alright, what happened?" the chief medical officer was at her side checking the monitors and her vitals.

"I'm fine, really," she looked around, something was different, it was as if she was suddenly so alone, but not really. The vision, that was all that it could be called, was fresh in her mind. John Sheppard. That was it, she could still feel him, very faintly, but he was there none the less.

"That must have been a really horrific dream," Beckett was taking her vitals and watching her out of the corner of his eye, before waving the nurses off, "We found you unconscious in Major Sheppard's room. Care to tell me why?"

"I had a bad dream," she sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed, "I don't know why I was in there, I just felt like something was wrong."

"Do you always go to the major when something is wrong?"

The sentence was said innocently, but she shot the doctor a sharp look anyway.

"I don't know," heaving a sigh and running her hands through her hair she looked back up at the man that had become her friend over the last three years, "I had a dream that he had been captured."

The doctor looked startled, but quickly looked around to see if anyone was watching.

"What do you mean?"

Elizabeth cocked an eyebrow at the Scottish man, urging him to continue.

"Well, shortly before we found you Teyla and Dr. McKay came through the Stargate, without the major or lieutenant. They said that they had been captured and wouldn't elaborate until they spoke with you."

She did remember that there had been an unauthorized off world activation before she had passed out. Meaning that her visions had to be true, and John was being tortured on that planet.

Quickly jumping off the bed, only to have her left leg collapse out from under her, and have Carson grabbed her just before she hit the ground.

"Whoa, there lass, not so fast; I understand that you want to get out there and get those men back to Atlantis, but you need to slow down a second," Carson eased her back into a sitting position, and for the first time she noticed the black wrap that was tied around her left knee. A dull ache was originating from the joint, sending tingles all the way up her leg, causing her to grimace, "you strained that knee pretty badly last night, whatever it was that you were doing. Although it probably wasn't just last night, you've been walking around a lot lately and it's not good to put an old injury through that much stress. How did you do that anyway?"

"I have been busy. Now if I promise to take it easy will you let me go figure out a way to rescue my people from that god forsaken planet," she couldn't help getting angry with the man, if he had seen what she had he wouldn't be wasting time either.

"Alright, but after this is over I'm ordering you to get some rest. Is that clear?"

"Crystal."

This time she slid off more slowly, holding herself up with the bed until she was sure that the strained joint wouldn't buckle. Then proceeding to limp out of the infirmary, in the general direction of McKay's lab, hoping to find him there and extract all of the information she could about the planet.

By the time Elizabeth reached the hallway outside the door to McKay's lab she was seriously considering cutting her leg off. The injury occasionally flared up if she spent an excessive amount of time on her feet, like just before the Genii attack three years ago, but for the most part if she rested it for a day or so nothing else happened.

However, since taking the job as leader of this expedition she had rarely had a moment to herself, let alone a time to rest with her feet up. Coupling that with the recent stress of impending Wraith attacks, the prophetic dreams returning and two of her best people being captured, she was probably up for the, busiest woman in the galaxy award.

Finally the door to the astrophysicist's lab slid open to reveal a distraught Rodney McKay looking through papers, as if his life depended it. Limping up to the table in front of him she glanced at the papers in his hand, and saw that they held everything they knew about the planet he'd just been to.

"Rodney?"

Startled, the man in question jumped at finding her so close to him.

"Elizabeth, are you all right? Beckett said that you'd collapsed or something?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, but I need you to tell me exactly what happened on that planet, everything that you can remember," while saying this Elizabeth slid onto a stool that had been pulled up to the workbench, taking some much needed pressure off her knee.

The scientist looked around as if suddenly at a loss for words, and then took a seat opposite her.

"Okay, it all started when we went through the gate, I guess, we all felt as if we were being watched. After walking for what seemed like forever, the ruins were in front of us. Teyla and I went to explore the building that the energy readings were coming from whilst the major and Ford looked around the rest of the area. All of a sudden there was a woman standing on the edge of the ruins and I tried explaining who we were so that she wouldn't panic. Then…, then the man came…"

"The man with black eyes?"

"Yes, he… Wait how did you know he had black eyes?"

Elizabeth shifted a little under his scrutiny, trying to figure out a simple way to explain how she knew what this man looked like.

"Never mind," Rodney shook his head, as if pushing away the previous thoughts, "the man came into the ruins and before I even had the chance to open my mouth Sheppard was yelling at us all to run. Teyla grabbed me and I saw Sheppard and Ford both go down before we were out of site. The woman chased us all the way to the Stargate; I wouldn't have made it if Teyla hadn't been pulling me along."

Elizabeth didn't say anything for a moment processing what she had learned, that dream was a little fuzzy, but hearing the retelling from Rodney had showed her things that she hadn't known. Like the fact that John had told them to run as soon as the man had appeared, that meant that he'd kept her warning in mind. But it hadn't saved him.

"We need to go after them," she looked up at the man that had spoken. McKay was watching her with panic in his eyes, the scientist had really changed in there time here. When she'd met him, Rodney McKay had been concerned with one thing; himself. But now he cared a lot about other people, his friends more than anything else.

"We will, but I'm not going to risk more of my people unless I know what we're up against," her look hardened, she didn't want to hurt him, but he had to have a clear head to be useful. And it appeared that it worked, Rodney glared at her, but gave a nod and went back to looking at the papers, "if you find anything unusual let me know immediately. In the meantime do you know where Teyla is?"

"I think she's on the mainland."

"The mainland?"

Rodney looked up at her again, his brow furrowed, "Yeah, the mainland. She thought that maybe some of the older Athosians had been to the planet and knew something that could be useful."

Elizabeth nodded, dreading the long walk that it would mean in order to talk to the woman. Slowly she slid off the stool, instantly regretting sitting for so long as her knee had stiffened up. Trying to hold in any outward signs of pain until she was out of the lab, it became apparent that she'd failed when Rodney gave her a questioning look.

"Elizabeth, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just an old injury flaring up."

He looked down at her leg, noticing the black wrap and gave her the deepest look of concern that she'd ever seen from him.

"You've been working too hard, this wouldn't have happened if you took it easy every once in awhile."

Weir blinked, first Beckett now McKay, was everyone on Atlantis channeling her mother?

"I promise that I will take a vacation as soon as I get all of my people safely back on Atlantis," she cocked an eyebrow at the physicist, daring him to say anything more on the subject.

"Fine, but I'm holding you to that," Rodney managed to look concerned and defiant at the same time.

_Damn that man! First John was talking her into things and now this from McKay! Do I have a sign on my back that says 'tell me what to do, I appreciate it'?_

Bottling up her frustration, she turned and limped as fast as she could out of the lab.

If Teyla was on the mainland that meant that was where Elizabeth had to go, no matter how much her leg would protest. Maybe these people that Teyla was speaking with could tell her something about the man with black eyes.

Making her way slowly to the jumper bay, she silently sent out a thought to John, almost confident that he would hear it.

_I'm coming John, just hang on._


	6. The Mainland

A/N: Sorry this took so long to update. I've had a lot going on with school and I was thinking about turning this story into a series. So naturally my brain is jumping ahead with new story ideas. But hopefully the rest of the updates will come much faster and I'll be posting an update to my other story within the week (with any luck). Please review, I like feedback.

Chapter 6

The Puddle Jumper skimmed over the clear blue expanse of water. Atlantis was rapidly disappearing behind them, and Elizabeth could tell that the craft was moving at a high velocity.

It had taken her at least fifteen minutes to track down someone with the ATA gene that wasn't currently occupied with something else. She would've thought that being the head of the expedition and running this city would give her some perks…obviously she was wrong.

Elizabeth quickly reached out and grasped the bulkhead as the Jumper jerked to the left. She'd never been one to get air sick, but this was ridiculous.

"Sorry, ma'am," the young lieutenant next to her accompanied the apology with a sidelong glance, which caused another dip in the flight pattern, "I'm still a little rusty."

Rusty was definitely an understatement. Lieutenant Collin Rowan was a marine that was about as green as you could get. And there were only two reasons he was on Atlantis; one was obviously the gene and the other was the fact that he was a mathematical genius. He was also the only one not doing anything at the moment. With Major Sheppard and Lt. Ford missing everyone was scrambling to do what they could to get them back.

Elizabeth had hesitated in asking Rowan, because John had specifically told her never to ride in a Puddle Jumper, or any other craft, with him. And the major would be the one who would know, since he had taken it amongst himself to teach all of the people with the gene, and all of the people undergoing gene therapy, to fly the Puddle Jumpers. He'd taken great pleasure in keeping her up to date on all of the crazy things he was making them do, but one time in particular he had not been amused. In fact John Sheppard had been down right shaken, and he'd stumbled out onto the balcony and right into her. After finally getting him to calm down he had told her all about one pilot that had made his life flash before his eyes. That pilot was Collin Rowan. And Elizabeth knew for a fact that if John's life wasn't the one in danger she wouldn't be in this ship with him.

The next dip jostled her left knee and she resisted the urge to yell at the kid. Her only mission right now was to get to the mainland and talk with the people that Teyla was speaking with, so that she could find a way to rescue John and Ford.

Elizabeth had contacted Teyla a few minutes before they had taken off and informed the Athosian of her intentions. The woman had agreed to allow her speak to any of the elders that wanted to speak to Dr. Weir, which apparently weren't many.

John's voice was still echoing in her mind from earlier. He was the one person in this galaxy that she could really talk to. They'd had many late night talks about nothing but nonsense; their favorite movie, childhood memories, and even old pranks they used to pull. He'd been surprised that the pristine Dr. Weir had been a trouble maker in her youth, but she was equally surprised that he had been a math geek.

The Jumper wrenched to the side making the irritated diplomat regret not dragging McKay out of his lab by the ear. According to John even Rodney was a better pilot then Rowan.

"You can just set the Jumper down outside the main village," her grip tightened as he banked the Jumper sharply to the right, aiming at the beach, "the village, not the beach, the village!"

"I know ma'am, I'm just getting a better angle for the approach," he smiled at her and she sunk down into her seat slightly. She knew enough about flying a Puddle Jumper to know that you don't need an approach to land.

The lieutenant lined up and skimmed over the beach before banking and sliding to a rest somewhere in the forest, which surround the encampment. Elizabeth let out a sigh of relief when the ship finally stopped moving.

"There you go ma'am. Safe and sound," Rowan was smiling at her as he powered down the ship.

She didn't answer him as she moved to the back of the Jumper, watching the back hatch glide down to rest on the ground. There was a large tunnel, the shape of a Puddle Jumper that was carved into the trees and foliage behind them.

"Welcome to the bunny massacre of 2007," she muttered it under her breath as she carefully walked down the ramp, "Stay here and guard the ship lieutenant."

Elizabeth didn't bother to see if he was following her and she moved off in the direction of the Athosian settlement.

Tents were set up in the sprawling community, all of which had the signs of being well lived in. There were children running around the area who were playing with a large ball, while the adults were working in the camp. It all had a very homey feeling and she suddenly felt like she should come here more often, and under better circumstances.

"Dr. Weir!" Teyla's voice pulled her from her reverie. Turning she noticed the slightly shorter woman leaning out of a nearby tent and waving her in.

Elizabeth slowly made her way over to the hut and ducked under the flap. It was a large space with many shelves resting on the floor that were covered with jars full of incense and what appeared to be herbs. An elderly woman was sitting on a bench at the only table in the room weaving some sort of rug.

"Are you all right?"

"What?" Teyla's question had startled her, but the old woman still didn't pay them any attention. The younger woman gestured toward her leg, "Oh, it's just an old injury flaring up, I'm fine."

She seemed satisfied with the explanation, "This is Roma; she is the only elder that I could get to agree to speak with you. Some of them are still bitter about their treatment while they resided in Atlantis, though I have tried to explain that it is not your fault. She however doesn't speak much, hardly at all to the rest of us."

"Why? I thought that everyone was very friendly with each other."

"Roma tends to keep to herself, rarely seeing anyone except for trading. I was actually quite surprised when she called me over and told me that she wanted to see you. And she doesn't come from the same settlement; we found her wandering around near the Stargate when I was a little girl. She has told some of the others that she doesn't remember anything and that she doesn't wish to be bothered by the other Athosians."

"Why doesn't she want to be bothered by the other Athosians?"

"I think…"

"Go!"

The outburst startled both of the women. Roma was still weaving but her eyes were focused on Teyla. There was something about her eyes that put Elizabeth slightly off, they were bright blue, unlike the Athosians who mostly had brown eyes.

"You wish me to go?" the Athosian's soft voice was tinged with wonder, and she had the impression that Roma didn't speak like this very often.

"Go!" this time the word was accompanied with a curt nod. Teyla gave Weir a smile and ducked out of the tent, leaving Elizabeth alone with the woman.

"Teyla says that you've been to a planet where it feels like people were watching you. Would you mind telling me what you remember from that place?" it was a long shot that the woman would speak to her, but she had to try. After all, the woman had wanted to see her.

Elizabeth limped over to take a seat on the other side of the table, trying to hold back the grimace that she knew played on her features. Roma was watching her closely, she wasn't even weaving anymore. The blue eyes were slits now, regarding the diplomat with a wondering expression, before she reached around the small table and placed her hands on Weir's left knee.

"Please don't…"

Before Elizabeth could finish the sentence a warm feeling started to spread from the area of contact. It engulfed her entire knee and seeped into her skin and deeper, immediately the pain vanished.

"How did you do that?" she knew that her voice was soft and awed, but she didn't care.

"An old trick of my people," the old woman's gruff voice startled her even more.

"Teyla said that you don't speak very often, why did you want to see me?"

"I thought that I could help you, because Teyla said that you wanted to know about a certain planet. And I don't speak with the people often because I like my privacy and I can't have them finding out about my little gifts now, can I? I would have all of them knocking on my door asking to cure a small cough," Roma stood and walked slowly over to one of the shelves, placing the half finished rug onto it, "I know why you've come here and you should never have sent your people to that planet. Especially knowing what you know."

"What…what is it that I know? I keep having these dreams, is that what you're talking about?" Elizabeth was more then confused now, nothing this woman was saying was making any sense.

"Dreams? Yes I guess it could manifest as dreams," Roma turned and saw the confused look still on Weir's face and elaborated, "You see things that others don't, maybe even when you were a child you saw these things. No one will believe you, but they always come true."

"How do you know that?" the bite in her voice was entirely unintentional, but she was beyond caring. This woman with skin as wrinkly as a three week old prune had just uncovered her deepest, darkest secret.

"I don't really know; I have no memories of my life before I came to live with the Athosians. But I do know some things. You have to embrace your gift if you are to use it to any degree of efficiency. And I'm guessing that you saw something about that planet or else you wouldn't have come all the way out here, am I correct?"

The hint of a smile could be seen playing at the edges of Roma's mouth as she resumed her seat on the bench, across from Weir. Elizabeth had never liked revealing too much about herself, not even to Simon or her family. The only one that she even felt remotely comfortable with was currently being held on another planet. Now this woman, who she had met less then fifteen minutes ago, was prying into her life. But if it meant getting John back then she would tell Roma whatever she wanted. She'd even tell her of the time when she was five, where she danced around the house singing the Barney theme song with her brother's boxers on her head, if she wanted to know.

"Two men off of one of my teams are being held hostage by a man with black eyes…and I saw it all happen in a dream."

Roma was watching her intently now, with all traces of amusement gone. The unseen watchers appeared again, wrapping around Elizabeth as if trying to suffocate her. Pain exploded in her head and she dropped to her knees, not even having enough air in her lungs to scream.

She looked up into the intent, but unsurprised, eyes of the old woman and realized that she was behind the phenomenon. Shadows were wrapping around her vision due to lack of air. They embraced her and all she wanted to do was let go and be swept away in the flood.

Only one thing kept her fighting, a presence on the very edge of her awareness was holding her in reality once again. John Sheppard was anchoring her there, reminding her that she needed to hold on in order to save him.

After what seemed like an eternity the pressure vanished, allowing the much needed air to flow into her lungs. Elizabeth fell all the way to the floor, gasping and coughing at the sudden intake of breath. Hands appeared patting her on the back and helping to get the precious gas back into her lungs.

"Don't try to breathe it all in at once, dear, or you'll pass out," the elderly voice had a tinge of admiration in it coupled with something Elizabeth couldn't identify. But she knew that voice and she doubted that she'd ever forget it.

Not thinking about her recent ordeal she scrambled away from the woman and collapsed in the farthest corner. Elizabeth was glaring at the old woman who was now at least five feet away from her, as far as the hut would allow.

"What the hell did you do that for! What do you want with me?"

Roma smiled and stood up from her crouched position, showing all of the stiffness that her age entitled her to. She regarded Elizabeth again, but this time no pain came.

"I have been watching you for some time now, using an ability that I discovered a few years after I was found. I thought that you might be different when I overheard Halling speaking to some others about an incident with one of your teams. How you sent a rescue team after some people before they had even reported they were in trouble. And when it turned out that the rescue arrived just in time, I thought that maybe you had an untapped gift. So I started to watch you, just to see if you could be taught, mind you I wasn't spying on the inner workings of Atlantis or anything like that. But I began to see that you had more of a handle on this then you let on to your teammates and I was intrigued."

"So you are the reason that I keep feeling like I'm being watched?" Elizabeth still had no idea what was going on, but she knew that if this woman didn't kill her first she could be a valuable resource.

"Yes, you are acutely in tune with your surroundings, because I didn't think you would ever notice," Roma smiled mysteriously and shook her head slightly, "So you wanted to know about Minjarno…the planet your team went to. The first thing you need to know is…"

"Wait, what was it you just did to me? It felt like my head was going to explode and I couldn't breathe."

"I was trying to see if you were being truthful with me. Because no one outside my people should know of Narnath, the man with black eyes, as you call him. He is very dangerous and he cannot be killed. I strongly advise you to lock that planet out of the system and never let anyone set foot there again."

"I can't do that, they are holding my people hostage," Roma turned to the fire in the center of the room and removed what looked like a kettle, which Elizabeth hadn't even noticed was there. She proceeded to pour the contents of the kettle into two cups.

"Here drink this, it will help with the headache, plus it tastes good," she smiled down at the diplomat while handing her one of the cups. Despite the seemingly good intentions of the woman, Elizabeth stayed on the ground and as far away as possible; not that it would do any good, "I didn't think that you'd just take my warning and leave it at that, especially with him being involved. Alright, I'll help you get them back but that is all. I cannot fight your battles for you Dr. Weir; you have to do that on your own."

"Show me."

_I'm coming John, just hang on._

The words echoed in his head. He knew that Elizabeth had been here and so did the hippy with black eyes. What he didn't know was how she'd gotten here, and how she'd just disappeared like that.

It was daylight again and the enemy camp was nearly dead, probably due to the party the night before. The only sign of life was an immobile foot that was sticking out of a tent across from the two men.

John tilted his head to the left, silently regarding the lieutenant next to him. The kid had been pretty green when they'd first met, but now he was a capable soldier and a good friend. That had been shown when he stayed behind to help John and let the other two members of the team get away. The kid had a large bruise on the side of his face, but nothing else was apparent. John had to smile at the fact that Ford was still asleep, the guy could drop off just about anywhere.

Elizabeth's face seemed to swim in front of his eyes. Her dark hair falling in curls just above her shoulders and her deep green eyes tinged with confusion and concern, just like she had looked last night. John had thought that maybe she was psychic before, now he knew that she was one at least to some degree. Elizabeth had appeared to him and said that she was going to get him out of here, and for some reason he had believed it. Then the freak had seen her and seemed to mentally force her away from him. John's jaw clenched as he remembered her screams of pain. They had shaken him to the core, not once in his entire life had he heard a sound that he most wanted to never hear again. All night he had had dreams about tearing the grey haired man into itty, bitty postage stamp size pieces and then feeding him to the next Steve they found.

Ford had been confused when John had started yelling across the camp at the man. And John had determined that the young marine couldn't see the diplomat. The conversation that he'd had with the hippy right after Elizabeth disappeared started to replay in his head.

_The man with black eyes had strode over to stand in front of the two prisoners. Studying them closely he glared at John, staring him right in the eyes._

"_Your friend won't be able to help you, she is weak," the man glared at John._

"_She's stronger then you could ever know, you bastard. I hope I get to see the look on your face when you find that out."_

_The two men glared at each other for awhile longer, oblivious to the confusion of those around them._

"_She doesn't have enough power or training to fight me on any level. But it is curious that I can still sense some of her presence residing here with you. It appears that there is a connection between you two humans…interesting," he studied John for a moment longer before seeming to brush off whatever he was feeling, "Know this, the woman will die if she attempts to challenge me. And you will reside here for the rest of your natural life."_

_The man had stalked off into one of the nearby tents, looking the least composed that John had seen him. None of what he said had made any sense, but a bonus was that at least he was ignoring Ford._

A noise like thunder sounded over the forest. John whipped his head around to try and see what it was. And he wasn't the only one there were people emerging from the tents. A black mass was moving on the horizon and was coming closer to the encampment.

"What the hell is that, sir?" John looked over to see Aiden Ford staring with wide eyes in the direction of the noise.

"I haven't the foggiest idea," he turned his head again to try and get a better look at the phenomenon. His bonds were severely hindering his attempts to get a visual, but his movements were enough.

A thousand…a million black crows were speeding toward them. Their black wings flapping in sync with one another and raining a feeling of death down on the people. At the same time the wizard, as he seemed, walked out of his tent and strode across the clearing at the center of camp. The birds conformed to his direction like the Nazis on Earth once had for Hitler. They swept over the area, shading it in their blackness for an eternity.

As John watched the airborne death he only had one thought.

_Hurry Elizabeth, I don't think we are going to last much longer. And be careful._

A/N: Like it? Don't like it? Please review, I need feedback to keep me going.


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